| 1. |
Focus Question: What was the
nature of the Italian City states and why did the Renaissance begin here? |
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Why do most scholars consider the Renaissance a transition from the
medieval to the modern world? Why did the Renaissance develop first
in Italy? What two economic activities provided the wealth for the great
Italian cities by the fifteenth century? Which were the five major
competitive states of Italy during this period? Which city-state
was not a despotism? What were the social conditions of most of Italy,
why? What was the mandate of the podestá?
What gave birth of need for diplomacy? |
| 2. |
Focus Question: How were the humanists responsible for Renaissance? |
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According to the book's authors, what is humanism? What occupation
did the first humanists follow? What function did the humanists have
in princely and papal courts? How was the Italian Renaissance different
from the Carolingian renaissance of the ninth century? How did the
Italian Renaissance humanists differ from their earlier Scholastic rivals?
How accurate was the humanist view that the period between themselves and
classical civilization was a "dark middle age"? Who were the three
most influential Italian humanists? Who was the father of humanism?
What was the most influential Renaissance tract on education and what did
it suggest? |
| 3. |
Focus Question: What
were the chief characteristics of Renaissance Art? |
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What "factors" led to shift from clerical to lay values? How
did Byzantine and Gothic art differ from Renaissance art? What Renaissance
ideal did Leonardo da Vinci personify? For what is Raphael most famous?
How large is Michelangelo's statue of David? What were the characteristics
of mannerism and how did it differ from the High Renaissance?
Who were the two greatest mannerist painters? |
| 4. |
Focus Question: Why was
Italy rocked by wars at the end of the 15th century and what impact did
it have on Italy? |
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Why did Charles VIII of France invade Italy? Why was Louis XII’s
invasion of Italy more successful than Charles VIII’s? Which pope
was probably the most corrupt? Which pope was the warrior pope?
Why was the Holy League formed? What was the importance of the Concordat
of Bologna (1516)? What blocked French efforts to seize Italy?
In the first half of the sixteenth century, how many wars were fought between
the Habsburgs and Valois, who won? According to Machiavelli, is it
safer for a ruler to be loved or feared? What was Machiavelli's political
goal, and how did he believe it was to be obtained? When was Rome
sacked, and by whom? |